1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the art and science of ventilating building structures, and in particular to an apparatus that provides an attic aeration/ventilation method by powering, forcing, pushing or drawing cooler air into the attic space from the soffit or under-eave area location/region of a building structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Because of climate changes related to global warming and the continued rapid demand and rising cost of energy, along with the incentives to preserve our energy resources, conservation is paramount for both domestic and the industrial/commercial end user.
For most end users located around and in between the earth's circle of latitude parallel planes 40 degrees north and 40 degrees south, air conditioning accounts for a substantial portion of the annual energy expense, Although most building structures are insulated, a substantial amount of energy is expended by the air conditioning compressor to pump the radiant absorbed by the building structure out of the air conditioned living space into the outside ambience.
As an air conditioning systems compressor load is being intensified by the heat gain forces/thermal storage effects associated within the attic air space found in building structures, temperature can continue to rise rapidly as solar radiation is absorbed.
The results are a large amount of heat is transferred from the exposed roof structure to the air trapped within the attic air space. This body of trapped air in the attic space acts as a thermal reservoir which transfers heat through the ceiling and into the air conditioned living space.
Because of the large thermal mass associated within the attic air space and the roof structure, heat can start transferring through the ceiling and into the air conditioned space beginning in the early morning hours and not substantially subside until late night.
The thermal mass storage effect of trapped or stagnant attic air in the past has been address by the actions found in two different types of attic vents which are classified as Intake and Exhaust Attic Vents.
Intake vents allow fresh air from outside the structure to enter the attic, and the Exhaust vents allow the air to escape.
Intake vents are static vents that are typically found in the soffit or the under eave area of a structure and are used for air intake. These static type vents typically consist of soffit vents, under eave vents along with other variations of continuous perforated venting materials.
This type static ventilation technology meets the minimum in building ventilation requirements and is also minimally efficient in regards to intake air performance.
Exhaust vents are the attic vents that allow air to escape. Exhaust vents may be static or powered.
Static exhaust vents allow the air to escape with no powered assistance, while exhaust powered ventilators use power to move the air out of the attic space.
These types of exhaust vents are located on or near the peak of the roof.
Static Exhaust Vents that are used on or near the peak or the roof typically consist of Ridge Vents, Roof Louvers, Wall Louvers and Wind Turbines.
Powered Exhaust Ventilators that are used on or near the peak of the roof typically consist of Powered Attic Ventilators and Powered Side Wall Ventilators types.
The Powered Vents are typically mounted on or near the peak roof area of the building structure and use an “Exhaust Method” for vacating hot air by a “drawing air up effect” along with using the typically static intake vents located in the soffits as described above.
This method of ventilation is also not as efficient as it should be because the air that is being generated up through the static vents below for ventilation is being heated up by the thermal environment and radiation effect of that found in the attic at a comparable rate.
Because the air is being “drawn up” from a large distributed area, in an uncondensed volume and rate the air has the propensity to heat up rapidly.
Also the air flow is typically drawn toward the underside of the roof through the joist and does not necessarily directly affect any of the thermal loading trapped in the insulation at the ceiling level of the structure.
Although the past prior art of Power Attic Ventilation methods have held out the promise of reducing energy consumption in building structures, through research funding by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have found and have expressed concerns that these devices do not necessarily realizing their perceived benefits and that they are:
Costly to operate/Uses more electricity than their benefits
Pull or suck air conditioned air from your living area into the attic space
Removes air from the home through ceiling leaks and associated bypasses
Increasing electricity cost and operation of the air conditioning compressor
Threat of back drafting combustion gases into a house living area
Pull pollutants from the crawlspace such as mold, radon, and sewer gases into the home
Back drafting fireplaces, water heaters as well as other fuel burning appliances